


Crystal Eyes

by KestrelShrike



Series: Anthesis-Side Stories [9]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Blood Magic, F/M, Gen, Magic, Occulara, Occularum, Redcliffe, They're really fucked up look at the codex entries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 22:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3996289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KestrelShrike/pseuds/KestrelShrike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>rhodaperdition said: Maiwe & co. find out the truth about the occulara; Solas gets pretty heated about it. How does Maiwe react?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crystal Eyes

Outside, the children of Redcliffe laughed and shrieked as they ran past one another, providing a sharp counterpoint to the horror that lay behind the locked door. Only long practice of viewing a litany of horrors kept the lock picks in Maiwe’s trembling fingers. 

The dim torches that provided the only illumination in the cabin glinted off blue crystals. In turn, the crystals were embedded, each in one eye socket of a grinning skull. Three shelves full of them loomed down. The bone looked fresh, not yet yellowed with age. Beneath the skulls, stone pillars leaned against each other, a runic fire the same blue as the crystals glinting on each one. 

“Ocularum.” The tremble in her voice betrayed her still face, revealing that she was not calm. She had not expected to find them here, so close to Redcliffe and all who lived there. But the ocularum were made somewhere. It had been a secret she had been content not to chase. Let it be a mystery. If she maintained that distance, she could pretend that they were no more than tools, and that the skulls were false constructions. She had never stopped to examine them closely, afraid of what she might discover, but now Maiwe found herself picking one up, turning it over and over again in her hands. The texture beneath her fingers felt all too real, pitted bone rising in ridges and crests and then dipping down once more. 

The crystal looked at her balefully, and she found that she could not return its gaze. Maiwe turned the skull downward, as if looking at where the vertebrae once connected might tell her who this belonged to. “How? Why?” She spoke out loud, but for her own benefit. She did not mean for Solas and Cassandra to hear, but it was inevitable that she did. She could only feel gratitude that Bull elected to stay outside, shaking his head and saying, “Creepy shit boss.” 

Beneath Solas’ hands, the skull seemed small and fragile; the faintest pressure making it cave in and crumble. “I believe these once belonged to the Tranquil who came here for sanctuary.” A voice so calm, so reasonable, at odds with what he was actually saying. Solas spoke as if it was all common knowledge, as if the problem had not wracked her mind, worming its way into every crack she left vulnerable. He spoke as if she would not care, but beneath that, something was working its way out. 

Cassandra, unheeding of a quiet, building anger between the two elves, spoke, though her tone was low, barely more than a whisper. “I had heard the Tranquil were disappearing. I should have investigated it further.” 

Within Solas, a dam burst. “You knew and you said nothing? It wasn’t enough that you implicitly condoned taking their minds out of some fear of demons. You let them die too.” His fists were balled, a blue fire running along his arm, up into his staff. It was like veilfire, but it admitted a very real heat. The shack’s boards around him began to groan in protest, warping and twisting from the blast. There were only seconds for Maiwe to act; she had to trust that Solas would recapture his control and self-possession. If he did not, Cassandra could not bare the brunt of it. She stepped between them, eyes closed and body braced. 

Nothing.  
Her eyes opened again. Anxiety still tightened her chest, but it was loosening now, leaving her only the usual discomfort. “Cassandra.” Maiwe surprised herself with a voice that was calm. “I suggest you step outside for a moment.” The Seeker was only too happy to oblige, though Maiwe knew that there would be repercussions later. 

“Solas.” All the love in her tone did not make his body less tense. She did not fear him, but she would not touch him now, not while vestiges of the veilfire still danced around his body. “I trust you won’t lose control like that again.” 

“Did you not hear what Cassandra said? She knew. She could have prevented this.” His gesture took in the skulls, smiling sightless down upon the pair. “Her Chantry takes what it cannot understand, and grinds it into the dust. Now it would kill bodies, not only minds.” Impassioned, the tips of his ears burned red. But it was an anger that was misplaced; Solas knew as well as Maiwe did that this was not Cassandra’s fault. He sought an outlet for his rage, and Cassandra had been handy. 

“Then you may blame me. I should have kept better track of the mages at Redcliffe. I should have read all my missives. Perhaps I missed something, a note that said what was wrong.” Maiwe was as good of a scapegoat as any, even though the mages had sheltered here prior to the Conclave. She took every responsibility upon herself. In these heralds of death, she saw only her own reflection and she embraced the discomfort it caused. She deserved nothing better. 

Her words broke the vestiges of whatever emotion Solas held inside. His shoulders dropped and his expression was immeasurably sad. When Maiwe reached to take his hand in her own, it was limp, fingers only half-heartedly curling about her own. “How did they do this?” 

“I can only surmise that it was blood magic.” As Solas theorized, some light returned to his eyes. It was dim, but it was there. “Tapping into the latent abilities of the Tranquil and using the crystals as a magic conduit. In any other circumstance, I would want to ask how, but I would not be gentle enough to question the culprits.” Maiwe did not like the smile that made one lip curl up. It was more a snarl than anything else, something feral that flitted across his face before vanishing back into the forests of his mind. 

He drew her close to him, her face against his chest. His heartbeat was elevated, his skin too warm. “We will add whoever did this to the list of people that I must deal with, and I will do so gladly. And we will discover what the shards do. Their magic must be strong if lives were sacrificed to find them.” She felt his lips skim the top of her head, planting a kiss on her golden hair, gentle so as not to disturb the braids. 

“We. We will find them together. You are not traveling this road alone.” The reminder brought heat to her cheeks, but Maiwe could not stand another minute here. She opened the door, pulling Solas into the sunshine. After the darkness of the cabin, it felt dazzling, white spots almost blinding her. 

Iron Bull and Cassandra waited some distance away. If they saw how Maiwe and Solas were connected, how they leaned on each other as a lifeline, they said nothing. They knew better than to make a quip now. “I will direct the Arl to see if he can find out which Tranquil were killed, and to lay them to rest in proper graves. All that is in my power, I will do.” Even if it meant presiding over an Andrastian funeral. These people had deserved better than to lie forgotten in a tumbling house, or to be used as magical artifact finders. Her mind, always selfish, hoped that this would not be her eventual fate when her body failed her. 

There was no time to fall into sadness. Once limp fingers curled tightly around her own, interlaced with them and squeezed her hand. There was nothing Solas needed to say; that he was present was enough to ground her, as she had brought him back to earth. They were both still angry, but together, their anger would find a purpose.


End file.
